Backpacking Ptarmigan Ridge

This was not Plan A. I was supposed to pickup back country permits, but the policy has been changed and you can no longer pick them up from Glacier Ranger Station. Guess I’ll try again next year to do Copper Ridge

Plan B was still really a most perfect two day. The weather wasn’t too hot and this is always a beautiful hike. If you’ve never done it, I highly recommend. It’s gorgeous from the parking lot.

I got set up at a campsite around 4pm and headed for the glittering Goat Lake in the distance.

Goat Lake is about a mile from where I set up camp, with tons of lovely camp sites below and around the ridges. If you want to go backpacking, this is a great location.

I took a little detour to a spot overlooking the valley below. I threw rocks into a lingering snowfield. It was very cathartic. Work, life, everything has been really difficult lately. This moment of freedom and quiet was deeply needed

The Lake was gorgeous. There were tents dotted around with happy people having wonderful afternoons

Here’s a video I took of the lake in the afternoon light

Sunset wasn’t spectacular. More of a gentle peachy salmon light as the night starts started to pop into the sky. I spent quite a bit of time laying in bed looking up int he sky just watching the stars. In the city, I miss the quiet. I miss the stars.

Morning light across Mt Baker was gorgeous and I packed up quickly to get on the trail before it got hot out.

I ran into plenty of happy people heading out as I came back and that was nice. Like, really nice. Everyone was happy and the day was so beautiful. This place is a real treasure and I feel so very lucky to be able to spend an overnight